Developing Your Interpersonal Skills in the Work Place
Interpersonal skills are extremely vital in the work environment. The perception of your manager and colleagues is important in your daily work and can impact significantly on the future of your career.
It does not really matter how intelligent and brilliant you may be, if you are not able to interact with your colleagues in the workplace, your professional life may suffer. With this in mind, there are several ways to develop and improve on your interpersonal skills to have a fulfilling experience in the work place. Below are some of the ways to build on your interpersonal relationships:
- Smile
Ensure you have an upbeat personality in the work environment. Be positive and cheerful.
- Be appreciative
Try and look out for positive things about everyone you work with, praise them and say thank you when someone assists you with anything.
- Pay attention to others
Observe what’s going on in other people’s lives. Acknowledge their happy milestones, and express concern and sympathy for difficult situations such as an illness or death.
- Practice active listening
Learn to really listen to people; try to understand the other person’s point of view. Your colleagues will appreciate knowing that you really do listen to what they have to say.
- Bring people together
Create an environment that encourages others to work together. Ensure you treat everyone equally, and don’t play favorites
- Resolve conflicts
Become someone who resolves conflicts when they arise. Try as much as possible to an effective mediator. Help colleagues sort out their personal or professional disagreements.
- Communicate clearly
Pay close attention to both what you say and how you say it. A clear and effective communicator avoids misunderstandings with coworkers, colleagues, and associates. Verbal eloquence projects an image of intelligence and maturity, no matter what your age.
- Humor them
Have a sense of humor; people are drawn to a person that makes them laugh. Use your sense of humor as an effective tool to lower barriers and gain people’s affection.
- See it from their side
Empathy means being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel. Try to view situations and responses from another person’s perspective.
- Don’t complain
There is nothing worse than a chronic complainer or whiner. If you must verbalize your grievances, vent to your personal friends and family, and keep it short. Spare those around you, or else you’ll get a bad reputation.